this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
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How is that technology fundamental to the story? It’s not an either or thing like you’re treating it.
It just existing is not enough, just like magic being explained (in your other comment) doesn’t suddenly make it scifi. It’s how it affects the story, it’s not scifi if it’s just the setting.
This isn’t some weird take, it’s literally the cornerstones of what defines scifi. Scifi relys on its foundation of science and our understanding to tell stories about futuristic human concepts. Please provide anything to the contrary, the balls completely in your court. Why does this need to be asked twice? Is it something that you can’t do…? Because you’re making shit up…? From your other comments I know you’re capable of quoting comments in your reply. Why ignore this one?
You ask for sources but can’t provide your own?
....Have you seen Star Trek before? Like, ever? Any of it? They literally made an entire show out of the question of "how did they explore before they got this tech, and how did they get it?"
This conversation is over.
So… no…? You don’t have the decency to provide sources yet you just demand them from other people?
You’re a real piece of work, you are self published aren’t you? And you’re presenting yourself as a professional? There’s a term for you people in real life, it’s called a hack. Can’t cut it in the real world where things matter and there’s standards, so you just do what you want and make everyone else look bad. Does that actually make you feel better about yourself?
Enjoy being a troll and pretending you are the professional you aren’t!
I thought of a way to dumb it down. I’ll give you two excerpts, one is how fantasy would explain something, and the other scifi. I’m going out of my way to do this, so I would appreciate some sources okay?
Fantasy.
Alberto woke up, he turned the light on and started his coffee, the news came on the vidscreen.
Scifi.
Alberto woke up and stretched his arm, in doing so it activated the electromagnetism in his arm, his species has this unique trait. As he gets up and walks through the door, the coffee machine had already gotten the wake up from the lights being turned on and was pouring itself. As he stared out through the panoramic window, it suddenly shifted to a breaking news bulletin.
Please tell me you can tell how one is hand waving, and the other isn’t. The first one, the technology isn’t there, maybe it might pop up later as an explanation. The second, the technology is being explained to build the story and flesh it out. Because that’s what the story is going to be mainly about.
Scifi has a hard time, because they need to waste a lot of words describing how mundane things aren’t so mundane. Fantasy gets this pass.
StarTrek literally has a term for its handwaving, technobabble. If you’re using technobabble, it’s not scifi, that’s textbook handwaving.
Yes I’ve watched Star Trek, that’s why I can discuss that what your saying isn’t true and you’re making it up.
What are your sources…?
For someone demanding them from someone, you’re surely are ignoring providing your own. Can’t discuss something in good faith? Just throw out you’re a professional and balk when asked to reciprocate? There’s a term for this, trolling.
And retconning stuff is obviously horseshit, that shouldn’t need to be explained. How many stories and media came out before they thought of that topic? And it’s not even fundamental to the story, or it would have been at the start of the creation of the story. You can’t explain something in the last story… and go… tadaaaaaaa.
So please, kindly provide some sources, or get lost, you’ve no credibility, and are losing it with each response.
A few stories by a few authors that touch on being scifi, doesn’t make the whole series that, this seriously isn’t what you’re suggesting are you? So if they made a horror, Star Trek is wholly a horror series now? Because that’s the logic you are applying wholesale here.